It’s two weeks since The Empowered Woman Live Retreat and I wanted to share a few reflections which I hope will help you, wherever you may be on your journey of growth and evolution.
At the retreat I was joined by an intimate group of women who came for the same reason:
- to rediscover and reconnect to who they are;
- to grow and develop;
- to move forward in life with confidence and trust.
Our coming together was founded on trust, vulnerability and respect for one another other. This helped create a safe space in which we could be vulnerable. Only when we are vulnerable can we truly grow.
As a facilitator, now more than ever, I realise how important my role is in allowing the retreat to be all that it needs to be.
What do I mean by this?
Leading up to the retreat, more than ever, I took time out to be, reflect, contemplate, journal, rest and nourish myself. I allowed myself to play and meander. I wrote about this in my last blog.
How and what I do leading up to each retreat is very important to me because it determines how I show up at the retreat.
There wasn’t a whole lot of preparation that needed to happen. And yes, this makes sense given this was my eighth retreat. Still, I think I could have done a lot more of this even in my earlier retreats. Instead, I spent a lot of time looking over my slides, figuring out if they needed to be lighter or darker in colour or if the design was right!
I dropped pretences of who I thought I needed to be and instead showed up fully. It was just me and the women. We were in purposeful flow.
We worked in partnership and collaborative trust. They trusted me. I trusted them. I believed in them.
I listened. I sensed. I intuited. I felt. I trusted. I acted.
We created.
As I stayed grounded in myself I was able to trust myself and create the space for women to do the same:
- to trust in the process and most importantly trust themselves in the processes;
- to delve deep, connect, discover, learn and embody who they are.
It was a beautiful co-creation of possibility, curiosity, growth, insight and love.
I didn’t walk away from the retreat feeling tired or exhausted. As I gave to them, I gave to myself too.
We all needed some down-time to process and just be without having to move into the next thing.
Having some transition time to move from one thing to the next is important. It helps us filter through, process, make meaning and be open to receive more.
So on Day 3 of the retreat, we gave ourselves time to sleep in and rest.
When we give ourselves what we need then we are able to receive even more.
My first retreat wasn’t like this. I was more controlling in how things needed to unfold. I was worried about doing things right.
So here are a few lessons and take-aways from the last retreat:
- Seek to create a space of trust and collaboration by setting clear rules and boundaries and respecting them- be at home with your family or at work with your employees/co-workers.
- Respect and accept another person’s journey- no matter what.
- Let go of the need to have things right and perfect. This cuts off flow and creativity.
- Allow room for imperfection. In imperfection you will receive your most valuable gifts and insights.
- Cut yourself off from the need keep going at all cost. Instead, give yourself the permission to explore what play and fun would start to look or feel like in your life.
- When you give yourself what you need the most, you will be able to receive even more.
- Give yourself time to transition from one thing to the next. If you don’t, you risk accumulating stress which if left unprocessed, spills over into your home life, relationships, health and etc..
I encourage you to look where you can let go of the need to control things in your life and surrender to your own wisdom, creativity and possibility.
